Aftermath: Sacrifice
by Pulchritudinous Angel
Summary: Relationship Indications: Garrus V. x Shepard (F) "There will always be consequences, Shepard." An Alternate Reality. A What-If Scenario. Ideas. Things are just not adding up; the information she seeks upon her awakening was sealed behind a wall within her mind. Her finalized choice was unknown and whatever was going on was connected. There was more to it. Something was missing.


**Authors Note**

Spoilers: Mass Effect Three Ending (Highly Recommended to play the game)

Relationship Indication: Garrus x Shepard (F)

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><p>Her eyes widened as she finally came to, gasping in need for oxygen. Her lungs felt as if they were partially charred, making it difficult to breath any better than a dying soul. Which could possibly be worse, the sudden roll of pain hitting her all at once from awakening, or the fact that every small hitch of her breath ignited an unseen fire within her lungs? Oh, yes, because focusing on which could be more bearable than the other seemed best at the moment. Not the fact that she was alive and breathing. A few bullets to the chest and broken ribs wouldn't even compare to what was felt right now. Actually, she was positive a few ribs <em>were<em> broken. Not like it really mattered anyways, really, what good was knowing that your ribs were broken? Yeah, that will make anyone feel better.

_Wonderful._

Still, like that was going to stop her. She focused on what was more bearable to continue, to feel less.

She wasn't quite sure where the pain resonated from, but it was best to assume that it wasn't anything too terrible. Of course, besides the fact that just a twitch of movement would cause a revolting wave of pain to flood into her, it couldn't _possibly_ be that bad, now could it? She swallowed with a wince as she prepared to lift herself up, nearly biting her tongue off.

_'Dammit, I have to...'_ She had to know, had to see for herself. Her memory was absolutely excellent however, like a ripped page, things didn't add up. Where did her memory stop?

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><p><em>Her bottom lip was captured between one of her canines, contemplating the choices it gave her. There really was no other route, was there? To think she would be finally finished, to watch the galaxy be saved by Anderson's side.<em>  
><em>Nothing was ever easy.<em>

_She inhaled sharply, holding back a tired moan of frustration. She was still human, after all. Still one person. Everyone depended on her and she was damn well fine with that, but the price? The price would cost her life as well as a future with the one she fell in love with. She did all good, she warned them, she protected them, and in the end she still seemed to have to sacrifice her life to fully satisfy this galaxy. Instead of tears, she chuckled._

_"I get it now," she breathed a wisp of a whisper. Her eyes closed, hiding those calculating icy blue orbs, and furrowing her eyebrows. She said she did, but emotionally, she still tried to suppress any doubt to her decision. "Heh, no matter the choice, you aren't going to make this easy for me, are you?"_

_"Everything comes with a consequence, Shepard." The small voice of a child ringed into her ear. In front of her she sees this little boy that haunts her dreams, yet that image just didn't fit the knowledgeable threat hidden from the innocent figure. Talk about guilt tripping, apparently haunting her was suppose to make things much, much easier on her decision. "Though, you have four options, and three of those are the ones you most likely will be considering. Each one will benefit what you organics desires. However, there will always be a cost."_

_Ever so slowly, she reopened her eyes and gazed towards her home world. Those icy blue orbs, for once in such a long time, revealed her emotions. She was always so calculating, always stubborn and determined. She was always Commander Shepard of the Normandy. Hardly ever Jaxx Shepard the Human. A small smile slowly adorned her features._

_This seemed to confuse the Catalyst, and it questioned. "Why do you smile?" It asked, knowledgeable eyes scanning the features of the organic.  
><em>

_"What's not to smile about this?" her chuckle cracked and she cleared her throat, toughening it out till the end. She will remain as the commander and nothing more. Nothing less. "If this is a chance at living through this hell, why not? Not exactly my share of fair game, but what the hell is...?"_

_Yeah. It was worth it, to let everyone survive this ordeal was absolutely worth making a sacrifice to continue this cycle of life._

_The three choices stood far ahead of her, so she headed down the path and ––_

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><p>Nothing. She couldn't wrap her head around it nor could she even attempt to gather any more information than that. She hit a wall that successfully kept her out. That pushed her back with a pulsing force. In suspicion, it felt like it was left there-purposely keeping her away from the truth. What did happen?<p>

Instantly, a surge of pain rippled under her skin, doubling her over onto the ground. It wasn't something she ever felt before and it felt completely foreign to her body, shuddering in disgust. Her vision blacked for more than a few seconds, only to blur back to the wreckage; a good sign to hurry up. She cursed under her breath and forced herself back up on her feet. _'C'mon, Shepard, you're almost there. Don't pass out now.'_ Her breathing became ragged, but stubborn as per usual, Shepard wouldn't dare stop now. She had to make sure.

That she did what it took to protect her home world. The galaxy.

To make sure that those on a Normandy had a home to go back to; keeping in mind those who made it possible.

To let the love of her life, reunite with family and rebuild their home. Of course she wouldn't be part of it, but it was better than having everyone disappear. One person less wouldn't make a difference. Damn, if only it was so easy to let go. His words still hummed in her ear. "It'd be an awfully empty galaxy without you."

Images flashed within her head the closer she came to a particular clearing; upon reflex the palm of her hand pressed up against her side temple. Her pulse became more than a notification of her heart working, it throbbed annoyingly, dangerously.

/_"Commander..."_/ Anderson's voice echoed into the space. Her head, maybe? No.

/_"We did it," Shepard breathed, seating besides him with a caught grunt. The sides of both their lips tilted up into a smile, feeling like nothing else was going to get in their way. Even that heavy baggage over her shoulders lightened at the thought of success._

_"That we did," He agreed with a low hum of satisfaction, his eyes seemed glazed over as he looked before him;staring out towards space. Towards Earth. "It's...quite a view."  
><em>

_A chuckle past Shepard's lips; she couldn't see what he saw at the moment. His eyes saw something utterly beautiful. Albeit, it was quite a view, but it wasn't anything that she could see that matched his. Still, a pause in time to sit along sides him, it made things seem calm and relaxing. To look over something as beautiful as this..."Best seats in the house."_/

It wasn't just a memory to her, it was something more than a flashback too. It was like she was watching the event before her in holographic form; as if it was a recording replaying the event. Of course, this was quite odd and new to her in a way that she did wonder what happened before awakening. It wasn't something she could dwell on, and time seem to fade quickly from her grasp, so she shoved it aside and focused on the pain and the urge to see for herself what the result was. She noted that somehow it reminded her of the overload project a while back, but instead it was her very own memories.

Her last conversation with her dear friend. And there he was, sitting before the large glass that viewed their home world. It was where he thought the end to be successful, and it was. It just had a few minor details that made things _sliiiightly_ more difficult. To think she'd be back here to sit along side him; like nothing else had happened. If he could see it now—the earth rotating without any more incident. No ships lingered, no reapers in sight. If he could see it now, would that gaze she had seen earlier be magnified in collection? In seeing beauty?

Her breathing began to slow and her vision blurred; even the pain began to dull. She could see it now. It wasn't a world that was damaged in the process of the reaper invasion, it was something else entirely different. The colors swam together; holding a glow of life. It couldn't even compare for what she imagined Anderson saw. Like stepping into the warmth of the hues, she felt a sense of that hope. Corny, no? But, it was beautiful, and no matter what, it was worth seeing after everything that happened.

It was free. It survived.

This was _how_ it was suppose to end; _where_ it was suppose to end. Not a twist nor a choice. Just to simply end without another baggage to rest over her consciousness. Sitting there by her friend, letting her body finally take rest, she'd like to pretend at least _for once_ that life after this would go on without any incident. To pretend that her dear friend would walk out with her alive, joining back with her crew on the Normandy; to state this this was just another mere mission. To pretend that she would return back to Garrus and start their sub-normal life...perhaps, maybe, with a little guns along the side. Really now, what would happen if he didn't have his free to calibrating the guns?

But, nothing ever seemed fair.

Her consciousness slowly began to drift, and just before the darkness enveloped her, she could have sworn she heard someone call to her from afar-could have sworn she saw a silhouette of a figure reaching out to her, saying her name.

_"Shepard."_

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><p><strong> Authors Note<strong>

Well, how do I begin?

There are gears running along in my head, working with different ideas all at once. I'm not quite sure how this came out and a review; such would be most appreciative. I honestly admit, this isn't my best at all, however I intended to give little hints of where I am getting at. It's more of an Alternate reality I have in mind-in other terms: A what-if senario.

What if she survived through this all, ending up with a unique and feared consequence that seemed far worse than death? Well, in my opinion anyways. I suppose I'll explain that in the next coming chapters I have planned (If I continue; this is just something). What If John Shepard existed along side her? What if there was something threatening the peace right after? What if Shepard was Illusive man's daughter/son (Don't think that, that is just something that just popped into my head at this exact moment. Hmm...But what if? Dramatic music cued on). What if there was another threat besides the Reapers? Considering that there are more galaxies out there; what if there was something more that wasn't seen before.A new alien race threat or something? What would happen to Cerberus? I mean, the illusive man did say it was simply an idea-and idea's t those who followed his footsteps weren't just going to vanish when he died. What if someone else took control of it and decided to use it? What if Shepard tried to have a normal life after the aftermath with Garrus and obviously trouble always finds her? (That didn't even seem like a what if, but still. So many ideas rotating within my mind. All these many ideas I can twist and form into this Fanfiction.

Mostly, I wanted to try a different writing style than what I usually conjure up. Specifically something more relaxed than what I usually try to express.

Apologies, I went ahead of myself. Please enjoy.


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